Effect of impinging jet on rapid cooling of a miniature Joule-Thomson cryocooler: Experimental study of operating conditions

Abstract

A miniature open-cycle Joule-Thomson (J-T) cryocooler possesses excellent potential for rapid cooling from ambient temperature to about 100 K within seconds. In this rapid cooling process, the interplay of the heat transfer process between the cryogenic fluid and the cold plate plays a crucial role, in addition to the J-T effect and the energy recovery within the heat exchanger of the cryocooler. The phase state of the impinging jet is determined by the jet temperature and has different heat transfer mechanism. To investigate this impinging jet behavior separately, an experimental system for the rapid cooling J-T cryocooler was set up and the jet temperature was measured besides other important parameters. The operating conditions, including the cylinder pressure, cylinder volume, ambient temperature, and the refrigerant, were studied orthogonal. It was observed that argon, compared to nitrogen, can be more rapidly throttled into its two-phase region within a second. However, nitrogen will perform better than argon in terms of cool-down time. This is attributed to the temperature difference between the jet and the cold plate, which significantly influences the boiling mode of the two-phase jet, and in turn affects the cryocooler's cooling rate. Nevertheless, due to the smaller heat transfer intensity of single-phase jet, the cool-down time of nitrogen deteriorates quickly at high ambient temperatures. Experimental results also revealed that the cooling rate of the cryocooler still can be enhanced even if cylinder pressure beyond its saturation curve, caused by the dynamic cooling process and the pressure drop within the finned tube.